Ledyard — Harvard had an extra dose of motivation on its side Saturday afternoon beyond extending its dominance in the America's oldest intercollegiate athletic event.

The Crimson raced for coach Charley Butt.

Harvard competed in the Harvard-Yale Regatta without legendary coach Harry Parker at the helm for the first time since 1962.

So the pressure was on Butt and Harvard to continue the program's winning tradition.

Harvard did just that, pulling away from stubborn Yale and winning by about 14 seconds in the 149th running of the event. The Crimson's unofficial time was 19:32.5.

The Crimson lead the series, 95-54, winning 14 of the last 15. Parker, who passed away last June, went 44-7 in the regatta.

Butt is now 1-0.

"There was a very special desire today to win for Charley," senior Will Hakim said. "We rowed a pretty consistent race. We set a pace and then Yale couldn't stick with us the whole way."

Continuing a post-race tradition, Harvard tossed the winning coach into the Thames River. Butt raised a broom, representing a Crimson sweep of all three races, before taking his dip.

"It's wonderful that we could accomplish what we have this year for all the obvious reasons," said Butt, who served as Harvard's lightweight coach for 28 years. "To be part of this right now is for me to be part of a dream. I've known of this regatta and Harry Parker since I was first aware of the sport at age 6 or 7. .. I've coached Harvard men for years. It's a pleasure to be part of all the traditions."

Upstream race conditions were challenging, as the crews dealt with a stiff crosswind and rough waters at the start.

The more experienced Harvard oarsmen built a three-second lead at the first mile and extended the gap to about six seconds at the halfway mark of the grueling four-mile race. The Crimson maintained a comfortable edge to the finish.

Both Butt and Parker were on the minds of Harvard before, during and after the race. "We just wanted to make sure Charley got off 1-0 and just another one for Harry," senior Andrew Holmes said. "He'd be really proud of this crew. He coached every guy on this crew."

The Harvard senior class leaves undefeated in the what they consider the biggest race of the year.

"This is the best race to win," Hakim said. "This is the one that we wanted. This is what we train all year for. It's immensely satisfying to win."

Yale coach Steve Gladstone said that Harvard looked "as sharp as a tack."

The Bulldogs haven't won a Harvard-Yale Regatta since 2007.

"After a loss, anybody feels that it's gut-wrenching," Gladstone said. "And if we step back for a moment and we think in this boat there were four sophomores and two freshmen... I thought they managed the race course as well as they could.

"They didn't over-stroke, they didn't go nuts. .... Very simply Harvard was more efficient."

It was memorable experience for sophomore Peter Tortora of Fairfield. Tortora took over as stroke and is part of Yale's bright future.

"I have never been in a boat with this much power in my entire life and it has been extremely fun," Tortora said. "It's been pretty surreal to jump into the heavyweight boat."

g.keefe@theday.com